Bondsman faces prison sentence in porn case

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February 13, 2012

Anonymous From staff reports The Joplin Globe Mon Feb 13, 2012, 11:31 PM CST

A Kansas City bondsman is facing a mandatory minimum of 15 years in a federal prison after being convicted in a bench trial Monday of producing child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr found Joseph Vanhorn, 70, guilty on the charge in a single-day trial in federal court in Springfield.

The owner of Victory Bail Bonds in Kansas City was indicted Oct. 7, 2010, after an investigation by police in Bonner Springs, Kan., and the FBI. Court documents state that he plied a 12-year-old girl with alcohol and marijuana and took sexually explicit pictures of her on several occasions between Aug. 1 and Dec. 10 of 2009 in Noel.

Investigators later discovered pictures of the girl on Vanhorn’s computer at his home in Kansas City, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri.

The conviction carries a mandatory minimum term of 15 years, or up to 30 years, in prison without parole and a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

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Bondsman faces prison sentence in porn case

At the request of Republican lawmakers, taxpayers are funding a 24-hour security camera to watch over a Rush Limbaugh bust in the Missouri Capitol. Do you think this is needed?

At the request of Republican lawmakers, taxpayers are funding a 24-hour security camera to watch over a Rush Limbaugh bust in the Missouri Capitol. Do you think this is needed?

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